In such machines and methods, successive preforms are placed in successive molds and the injection is performed at a container forming wheel, or carousel, movable in rotation and carrying the molds. The injection is performed in a forming area of the machine at a high pressure via injection means coupled to the molds and placed in fluidic communication with the inner volume of the preforms.
At the end of the forming area, the formed and filled containers are retrieved from the forming wheel, by a transferring wheel, and are transferred to a capping wheel, where the containers are closed by caps or lids.
Consequently, the containers are transported at high speed while containing liquid and while being opened. More particularly, the opened containers containing liquid are moved in rotation, which generates an important centrifugal force on the containers. This centrifugal force, and more generally transporting the containers at high speed, can lead to spilling the liquid contained in the containers.
More particularly, when the formed and filled containers move from the forming wheel to the transfer wheel, the direction of rotation of the containers changes, which implies that the centrifugal forces applied by the forming wheel and the centrifugal forces applied by the transferring wheel are of opposite signs, which generates very important constraints on the formed containers. Such constraints applied by the liquid on the containers while they move at high speed can lead to a deformation or even a destruction of some of the containers, thereby spilling the content of these containers in the machine. There is therefore a high risk of soiling the machine with liquid, which requires stopping the machine to clean it and reduces the throughput of the machine.
Document WO-2012/156014 discloses a machine for forming and filling containers, wherein the opened and filled containers are separated from injection nozzles while the molds are placed in a retracted position away from the injection nozzles. In this manner, if liquid is spilled out of the containers, said liquid will not soil the molds, which reduces the need to clean the machine. However, such a machine does not prevent the spilling of the content of the containers. Such a machine is therefore not satisfactory since a part of the liquid injected in the containers is lost.
Consequently, in order to prevent any spilling the speed of rotation of the different wheels of the machine is necessarily limited, thereby limiting the throughput of the machine.
One of the aims of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above, by proposing a machine and a method for forming and filling containers, wherein opened and filled containers can be transported without risking spilling the content of the containers.